Finally, Maybe—a Grocery Store Downtown

When I was living in Downtown Cincinnati a few years ago, one of my biggest complaints was that there was no real grocery store. The Kroger store in Over-the-Rhine just wasn’t convenient and not central enough to the heart of the city. It was a drag having to get into a car or take the bus out of the city to get to a real supermarket. Finally, maybe, that’s about to change.

A few days back, I wrote a post about Tower Place Mall which has basically been dead for years. Now, Cincinnati retail real estate brokers are looking at that space to renovate it, add a 30-story apartment tower and, at the base, add a grocery store.

This all makes perfect sense. If the City of Cincinnati is serious about getting more people to live downtown, this is the way to do it.

Of course, now I live in a different city, the City of Covington. We have a Kroger store right there on Madison Avenue that’s in walking distance. Still, I can see myself going across the river to buy a few groceries in Downtown Cincinnati. It’s about time this happened.

Gus, agreed: assume the space in downtown Cincinnati is higher to lease, so prices may be higher. I had sticker shock while long-term visiting Vancouver BC last year. Prices sky-high at a downtown IGA. Offsetting that, I bought really smart and ate less (waistline-friendly). Plus had the ease of moving around, i.e., mass transit, bike lanes, walker-friendly destinations for a haircut, GREAT library and diverse retail options. Who’s on the planning committee? Hope it includes people who actually live downtown and are on a lower-than-six figures income.